Back support

ABSTRACT

A BLACK SUPPORT, SINGLE PIECE, FIBER REINFORCED PLASTIC, OR MODULED HIGH-IMPACT UN-REINFORCED PLASTIC, MOLDED TO SHAPE, TO SUPPORT THE BACK OF AN INDIVIDUAL, CHILD, ADOLESCENT, OR ADULT, THE FORM BEING AN UPWARDLY EXTENDING BACK SUPPORT PORTION INTEGRALLY A PART OF A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL PORTION ADAPTED TO REST ON THE FLOOR AND ENGAGE THE FLOOR, THE FORCE OF THE INDIVIDUAL&#39;&#39;S BACK PRESSING AGAINST THE UPWARDLY EXTENDING SUPPORT, BEING TRANSMITTED TO PREDETERMINED SYMMETRICALLY PLACED AREAS OF THE HORIZONTAL OUTWARDLY EXTENDING BASE PORTION. THE DEVICE IS SUITABLE FOR USE AS A BACK REST BY AN INDIVIDUAL SITTING ON THE FLOOR, WHETHER IT BE THE BARE FLOOR OF THE FLOOR WITH A SMALL FLAT CUSHION.

Feb. 13, 1973 R. B. FRAZIER' 3,716,270

' BACK SUPPORT Filed July 14, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIGJ L9 1 i I I f I 15' I I I3 I I MENTOR, Z2 RICHARD B. FRAZIER 2 3 BY W ATTORNEY R. B. FRAZIER BACK SUPPORT Feb. 13, 1973 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 14, i971 INVENTOR RICHARD a. FRAZIER ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,716,270 BACK SUPPORT Richard B. Frazier, Burlington, Vt., assignor to Calcagni- Frazier-Zajchowski, Architects, Inc., Burlington, Vt. Filed July 14, 1971, Ser. No. 162,410 Int. Cl. 'A47c 4/02, 7/02; B60n 1/06, 1/10 US. Cl. 297-377 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A back support, single piece, fiber reinforced plastic, or moulded high-impact un-reinforced plastic, molded to shape, to support the back of an individual, child, adolescent, or adult, the form being an upwardly extending back support portion integrally a part of a generally horizontal portion adapted to rest on the floor and engage the floor, the force of the individuals back pressing against the upwardly extendii'lg support, being transmitted to predetermined symmetrically placed areas of the horizontally outwardly extending base portion. The device is suitable for use as a backrest by an individual sitting on the floor, whether it be the bare floor or the floor with a small flat cushion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the modern school, in society generally, it is common for informal groups to choose to sit on the floor of an assembly area, :Whether the assemblage be large or small. The practice very quickly generates problems because without someikind of back support the posture of a human sitting on the floor becomes decidedly uncomfortable, and, if carried on for'iany significant time, can lead to some very significant back discomfort. That is, the human spinal column is a complex flexible unit having a reverse S curvature, i.e. inwardly toward the abdominal-cavity and outwardly at the shoulders, and when the human is seated on his buttocks without a back support the tendency is to reverse the curvature of the lower part of spinal column. No significant harm or discomfort comes from such reversal in the young and pliable if it extends for only a short period. However, at all ages that posture carried beyond a few minutes can create discomfort at least.

It is accordingly, an object of this invention to provide a simple back rest which will have essentially a three area floor contact support and an upwardly extending back support in a single integral piece, the back support being adapted to fit approximately the curvture of a spine or back.

Other objects and advantage will in part be obvious and in part appear hereinafter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention accordingly is embodied in a single piece molded reinforced, or un-reinforced, plastic unit having an essentially horizontal base portion which provides a threepoint or three area support, approximately like the buttocks of a seated person, with an upstanding back portion having width to correspond approximately to that of the back of a person, and extending upwardly to the region of the clavicle, the device being such that the convex parts thereof provide the support, that is, the convex portions of the horizontally extending portion being in contact with the floor and the continuous part of the upstanding portion being adapted to meet a persons back, and the other face, or the concave face, being the portion in which or through which support is developed, and also providing a means by which the devices can be stacked in storage.

It is in storage where a real advantage of this form of back rest is perceived, because as legless chairs it is 3,716,270 Patented Feb. 13, 1973 apparent that large numbers of the single piece units can be stacked in a minimum amount of space.

Referring now to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the device with its curvatures indicated by contour lines;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section along the center line of FIG. 1 indicated by the line 2-2;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the back support with a seat cushion placed in operative relation thereto, and with a stock of said supports in place;

FIG. 4 is a diagram corresponding approximately to the view of FIG. 3, showing an outline of an individual seated on a fioor using the back support of this invention.

Referring now to FIG. 1 it will be observed that the plan view of the portion of the support, herein called the horizontal base 11, of the overall support 10 is divided into 8 areas, 4 on either side of the center line. Generally, the full size unit for an adult will be 16- inches wide and 16 inches long. These areas can be visualized as the horizontal areas identified by the broken lines on either side of center line 12, namely, lines 13, 13', 14, 14', 15, 15' and the edge 16 and 16'.

Referring to FIG. 2 where the device is shown in section it will appear that the upwardly extending back portion 20 extends to a level approximately 16 inches from floor in a continuous B-dimensional curve. All of said back portion is vertically projectible downwardly onto said horizontal portion within an area which is no more than one third of the area of said bottom portion. This is indicated by projection line 21 in FIG. 2. The curvature of the piece is continuous from the forward edge 22 of said bottom piece and the gripper 23 integrally formed as the linear contact area along said edge, up to a level of approximately 3 inches from the floor and 2 inches from the vertical indicated as 24 in the diagram, whereupon the spinal curvature section of the back rest indicated as 25, commences and continues through a relatively straight area to terminate in a clavicle area support designated as 26.

As can be observed from the dimensions outlined, the numbers are typically average for a full size unit adapted to be used by an adult.

Referring back to FIG. 1 it will be observed that the horizontal base portion provides for three areas of contact simulating those areas of the backs of the knees and the buttocks if the individual were to sit on the floor. The area corresponding to the knees is provided with a gripper 23 and buttock area is provided by the curvature along the center line and around the center line indicated by contour lines 27, 2'8 and 29.

Similar contour lines 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 and 37 indicate the contour of the back and manner in which the back has a three dimensional curvature around the center line.

In essence, the support is provided with these curvatures copied from the human anatomy, but reversed to form the seat back, or back support, in combination with the floor support as illustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4.

Thus, in FIG. 3 there is shown a cushion 40 which need only be placed in relation to the support as shown. The cushion 40 can have an extension under the pad itself. In use the individual as shown in FIG. 4 seats himself on the cushion and leans back naturally at an angle of 25-35 degrees from the vertical to obtain his support from the upwardly extending curve of the back section. The curvature is such and the forces are such that the force for support is pointed into its projection, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, and is transmitted to the contoured floor contacting areas defined by contour lines 27 and 28, each of which is centered approximately in the area on either side of the center line of the horizontal portion and under 3 the projection of the upper edge 26 of the back support within the area defined by the line 21 of FIG. 2.

As materials of construction it is quite apparent that the tough hard resins used for molding of box or bucket seats are useful herein. That is, nylon, polyethylene, polypropylene plastic resins which can be cured to a hard state to develop a modest degree of flexibility, preferably with some fiber reinforcement or a fabric skeleton, such as a heavy duck, is suitable. That is, the important element is to form a die of the shape indicated, maintaining the relationship of the dimensions of the back. It projects onto the horizontal and the curvature of the horizontal part to develop the three area floor contact to absorb projected force from the back rest as the basic principle of the inverted chair design.

The materials of construction may vary to suit the exigencies of commercial requirements, provided the end product has the strength and can hold the form required.

What is claimed is:

1. A back rest suitable for supporting back of a human seated on a horizontal base, which comprises a horizontal part integrally joined with an upstanding portion in a continuous piece of triple curvature, said horizontal portion having an outer edge, an area of floor contact at its outer edge, two inner areas making floor contact, and a central curved section generally defining said respective areas of contact, an upstanding section inclined from the vertical as a back support section, curvature of said back support section approximating the natural curvature of the human spine, said upstanding portion also having a curvature around a center vertical, said horizontal portion extending from said upstanding section at less than a right angle to allow said upstanding portion to form more than a right angle with a horizontal base.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,512,835 4/1968 Flototto 297458 2,244,440 6/ 1941 Archer 297-460 X 3,177,036 4/1965 Halter 297-459 X CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

